f PROPERTY OF THE 
I IIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

The U. S. Government Campaign to Promote the Production, 
Sharing, and Proper Use of Food 

CONGRESS 

+ 


•MOV 5 1943 

THE CONSERVATION OF FOOD 
I. IN THE HOME 



Prepared by the 

WAR FOOD ADMINISTRATION 

in cooperation with the 

OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION 
October 1943 













INTRODUCTION 


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IN 



This handbook is compiled to reveal facts about food waste in this 
country; to outline ways of curtailing waste; to request cooperation in 
all channels of information in order to reduce this waste and turn the 
full force of our food supply into winning the war. 

This handbook deals primarily with preventing food waste in the 
home. Supplementary information to be issued later will deal in 
detail with food waste in other areas—on the farm, in transit, in the 
wholesale house, in the retail store, and in the public eating place. 

The need for fighting waste is explained in detail in the program 
book, Food Fights For Freedom, prepared by the Office of War Informa¬ 
tion and the War Food Administration in cooperation with the Office 
of Price Administration. Food Fights For Freedom calls for an educa¬ 
tional program to present reasons why action by every citizen is 
essential to shorten the war and save lives. The calls to action are 
summarized by the appeal—PRODUCE AND CONSERVE, SHARE* 
AND PLAY SQUARE. 

This handbook deals with the conservation phase of the Nation’s 
battle to make food fight for freedom. 

Last year, we, the people of the United States, wasted more food 
than was needed by our armed forces and for the lend-lease require¬ 
ments of all our allies. We wasted from 20 to 30 percent of what we 
produced, or about 1 pound out of every 4. 

We therefore have a direct means of increasing our food supply, 
simply by not throwing food away and by using all we have. 

A substantial part of this waste is accounted for as follows: We let 
immense quantities of food go to waste unharvested on farms. We 
lost some more in transit. It was dropped by the wayside at whole¬ 
sale houses. More of it, bruised and spoiled, was swept out of the 
back door of retail stores. And staggering amounts of it were scraped 
off unfinished plates in restaurants and public eating houses. 

But one of the greatest single scenes of this astounding waste is the 
home. Here food is cooked away, drained down the sink, left on 
plates, and dumped into kitchen garbage pails. 

Three-fourths of a pound of food wasted by each of us every day 
adds up to a staggering total. A slice or two of wasted bread a week 
in each home is the equivalent of 2,000,000 loaves. Dabs of butter 
left on each plate, totaling perhaps as little as one-half ounce a week, 
would make enough to have supplied our Army last year. The one- 


553522°—43 


1 


tenth to one-fourth of the potatoes thrown away in paring and cook¬ 
ing after they get into the kitchen represents more than enough to 
supply New York City. 

This is wasting a weapon of war. Even making allowances for 
unavoidable waste, it is estimated that we can by voluntary watch¬ 
fulness in the home save food that will more than equal the increase 
in food production of the past year. 

This waste occurs at a time when we are faced with a shortage of 
many foods. 

Although farmers have broken all production records for 4 con¬ 
secutive years and are out to break the all-time high record of 1942, 
there will not be enough food this year or for several years to satisfy 
all claimants for it. Aside from military and lend-lease demands, 
two other factors are creating a serious strain on the equitable distri¬ 
bution of our food supply: 

1. Americans have more money than there are goods to buy with 
it—and much of this is spent on food. 

2. Every new allied victory means more people to feed—at least 
until they can get back on their feet. 

So we at home face this reality-—we will have enough food for 
# good health but not all the food or the kind of food some of us may 
want. How then do we make our food do all the things it must do— 
sustain us at home as well as our fighters and allies abroad? 

By decreasing the amount set aside for war needs? That would 
seriously jeopardize our military program. By increasing farm pro¬ 
duction? That will help, but will not solve our problem. Despite 
great records for 7 straight years, and even higher goals for 1944, 
there are limits to what the farmer can do. 

The real solution lies in every American taking a number of highly 
important actions—actions which include a determination to produce 
more food; conserve food, avoid waste; preserve food, eat the right 
foods, adjust our eating habits to the available foods, share our food, 
and help keep food prices down by paying no more than legal 
prices. Of these actions the avoidance of waste is of tremendous 
importance. 

•AMERICANS MEET A NEW PROBLEM 

The days of so-called food surpluses are over, at least temporarily. 
Now we should think of our food supply as one huge basketful—the 
tallest, biggest basket of the most varied food in the world, thanks to 
the production records of our farmers. This basket is all we have, and 
there are 120,000,000 hands here at home ready to dip into it. Our 
home-front share is by far the greatest—75 percent. Our armed 
forces need 13 percent. Our allies around the globe are receiving 10 


2 


percent. Territorial needs and requirements for special purposes add 
up to 2 percent. 

By taking a number of direct actions, we can make this basket 
larger and make it go further. The most important method of accom¬ 
plishing this increase is by preventing waste. 

HOW MUCH FOOD DO WE WASTE? 

Garbage analysis studies in 247 cities reveal an average of 300 
pounds of waste food per person a year, or more than three-fourths of 
a pound for each individual every day. Of this food, 225 pounds 
were edible. This includes wastage from wholesalers, retailers, 
restaurants, and homes. 

Raymond Pearl, statistician and geneticist, estimated a food 
wastage in the home of 5 percent of protein, 25 percent of fat, and 20 
percent of carbohydrates—or an over-all waste of 19 percent of the 
calories. 

WHERE FOOD WASTE OCCURS 

Food is wasted at every stage of distribution and use—-on the farm, 
in transit, in storage, in the processing plant, at wholesale markets 
and establishments, in retail stores, in public eating places, and in the 
home. This squandering of our food adds up to about a fourth of all 
that we produce. Some waste is unavoidable, but much can be pre¬ 
vented by conservation measures. 

Waste on the Farm 

Waste on the farm is incalculable. It takes place from planting to 
harvest. It includes damage done by insects and by rodents. Com¬ 
mon plant diseases each year deprive us of several hundred 
million bushels of grain and other products. Additional quantities 
are lost when crops remain unharvested because of local labor shortage, 
transportation difficulties, limited facilities for processing, or because 
unpredictable weather causes market gluts of seasonal foods. Rough 
digging and picking, careless preparation for market, and inadequate 
refrigeration and storage add to the losses. 

There is no general cure-all for waste of food on the farm because 
here, as elsewhere, some losses result from circumstances occasioned 
by the war—but all efforts to assure that the crop is harvested down 
to the last bit will help. Voluntary workers and community coopera¬ 
tion where labor shortage exists can save much food. And every 
effort should be made to see that food which is edible by human 
beings is channeled to them rather than to livestock. 

Waste in Transit 

Waste takes place when farm and food products are transported to 
market. Some of it results from inadequate facilities due to the war 


3 


situation, but breakage and spoilage commonly occur from improper 
practices of packing, loading, handling, and ventilating-—especially 
in the shipment of perishables. 

When hampers and boxes are packed to the bulging point and then 
heaped on top of each other, contents are marred and bruised. When 
delays in transportation are reduced, more of the food value of 
perishables reaches the table and less waste from spoilage results. 

Many pounds of meat are wasted annually through death and 
crippling of animals in transit and from bruising in general. Three- 
fourths of the total loss is from bruises, not usually detected 
until after slaughter. Bruising occurs all along the line: (1) On 
farms; (2) in transit; (3) at public markets; (4) and to some degree 
in packing plants. The greatest damage happens in transit, particu¬ 
larly in poorly equipped trucks operated by careless handlers. Pro¬ 
jecting nails, splintered boards, sharp-cornered posts, slippery footing, 
the use of clubs, etc., are a few of the causes. 

Waste in the Wholesale Market 

To a lesser degree than in homes and retail establishments, certain 
waste takes place at the wholesale level. Some loss of foods occurs in 
cold storage and “ripening” rooms. This can be avoided by careful 
handling and closer attention. 

To reduce such losses the wholesaler should carry on a program 
with the following objectives: 

1. Adaptation of good receiving and delivering practices, such as 
careful handling and stacking on loading platform, to avoid bruising 
and deterioration from the elements. 

2. Confirmation to accepted storage plans prescribing temperature, 
humidity, ventilation, light, stacking, turning, etc., for the particular 
commodity. 

3. Sanction of progressive merchandising policy calling for adequate 
packaging, frequent culling, rotating (first in—first out), selling in cus¬ 
tomary receiving unit, reducing prices to obtain turn-over of foods 
which may spoil if held longer. 

Waste in the Retail Market 

There is additional loss in retail handling. Reports of some of the 
most carefully managed stores show spoilage losses of 3 to 10 percent 
on fresh fruits and of 3 to 15 percent on fresh vegetables. These are 
in addition to losses sustained in selling overripe products at reduced 
prices in order to avoid spoilage. Some waste is caused by new and 
inexperienced labor. Dropping crates and dragging sacks cause 
bruises or actual loss. Much waste occurs through storing, displaying, 
and selling without giving consideration to the keeping quality of the 
merchandise. Limited studies suggest that such waste alone totaled 
about $450,000,000 in 1942. 


4 


Retailers can help reduce such losses through— 

1. Proper receiving —by practicing established methods for careful 
handling. 

2. Adequate storing —by following acceptable standards pre¬ 
scribed for stacking, ventilating, lighting, and maintaining tempera¬ 
ture and humidity. 

3. Correct displaying and selling —by presenting food in an 
environment away from the elements and by following good merchan¬ 
dising practices such as rotating, culling, segregating, and adjusting 
prices on products in danger of imminent deterioration. 

Waste in the Public Eating Place 

The American public eats 55 million meals a day in public eating 
places. Estimates are not available on the food waste under the 
control of restaurant management—through inadequate facilities, 
poor cooking, overstocking, overproduction, or inexperienced help, 
but it is estimated there is a 6 percent or larger waste in food left on 
plates by restaurant patrons. 

The operator of a public eating place has a threefold task: 

1. Educate his kitchen and service personnel on the ways and means 
of saving food in the kitchen. (Here, factors in food wastage and 
the means of correcting them are much the same as those which 
apply in the home kitchen.) 

2. Offer his patrons menus which are less elaborate and at the 
same time varied and well-balanced. (It has often been shown that 
the public is more interested in quality than in quantity of choices 
offered.) 

3. Assist in educating his patrons to order only what they want 
and to eat everything they purchase. 

Waste in the Home 

Americans eat more than 135 billion meals a year. If these meals 
are poorly planned, not prepared well, and are not all eaten, if left¬ 
overs or remains of too large portions are not utilized, the door is left 
open for tremendous waste. 

On the next few pages are listed major failures of planning that 
cause waste and some ways in which this loss can be eliminated. 

Waste in the Planning of Meals 

1. Failure to take full advantage of foods in seasonal abundance, 
especially perishables, results in waste. Proper planning not only 
saves the full nutrient value of the fresh crop to the consumer, but 
also saves foods which may be used when perishables are scarce. 

2. Planning meals ahead cuts down waste in the home due to lack 
of storage space. There is no sense in buying foods for which there 


5 


is no room in the refrigerator and for which there is no other adequate 
storage facility. 

3. Failure to plan on the basis of required nutrients causes waste. 
If a housewife serves more carbohydrates or more protein foods than 
are necessary at the expense of vitamins and minerals, an unbalanced 
diet results. For example, if both potatoes and spaghetti are served 
at the same meal, either one may only be nibbled at and the remainder 
thrown away. Each day’s food should include some of each of the 
Basic 7 food groups. This balancing makes for better health and 
better appetites for each of the foods served. 

4. If the same dishes are served for a period of days they become 
less appetizing. The result is wasted food and often a waste in food 
values. 

Waste in Marketing 

Hand in hand with planning goes the right kind of marketing. This 
yields better nutrition, more for the consumer’s money, and a tre¬ 
mendous saving of food. 

1. Buying too much means dangerous spoilage and loss. Many 
foods deteriorate in nutritional value the longer they are held, so even 
though they are eventually eaten there is a waste of food values. It 
is better not to buy the 2-for-49-cents special if the quantity is likely 
to be too much to eat before it spoils. 

2. You cannot judge the nutritional and taste value of all food by 
its appearance. Many tons of fruits with slight blemishes are thrown 
away because their appearance has not appealed to the customer, 
although in taste and food values they are equal to the most photo¬ 
genic pears, peaches, etc. The retailer cannot sell them. They rot, 
contaminate other fruits and are thrown away. This waste adds to 
the cost of perishables purchased, because the retailer has to average 
the good with the bad and charge a price to cover wastage. 

3. Great waste occurs when merchants, in order to make leafy 
vegetables showy, tear off the outer leaves. The outer leaves are 
higher in vitamin content than the inner. The use of the vegetable 
brush, good storage, and prompt preparation will give more food value, 
better taste, and save waste. 

4. A good rule for shoppers is “hands off” when it comes to pinching 
and prodding and otherwise injuring sound fruits and vegetables. 
Such treatment often causes rot and results in waste. 

5. The habit of week-end buying causes waste. Merchants stock 
up to meet the demand, and if their calculations are wrong, left-over 
perishables rot by the following Monday. The homemaker who makes 
week-end purchases is inclined to overstock and spoilage results at 
the consumer level. 


6 


Waste in Food Storage 

Lack of information on proper storage methods causes waste. 
Simple precautions will eliminate much of this-—especially when 
available refrigerating space is small. 

1. Left-overs in the refrigerator lose their moisture and flavor unless 
properly covered. Dairy products left uncovered absorb odors of 
other foods. 

2. Meats often spoil unless placed in the coldest part of the re¬ 
frigerator. 

3. Forgotten foods shoved back in the ice box too often end up in 
the garbage can. A daily inventory of the ice box is a food saver. 

4. All foods do not require immediate refrigeration, so the ice box 
need not become a catch-all. Millions of dwellings have cellars suit¬ 
able for storage of certain foods. A properly sunken and covered 
barrel or box in the back yard makes excellent storage space for root 
vegetables like potatoes, carrots, turnips, and beets. 

5. Frequent inspection of packaged goods saves waste. This elimi¬ 
nates potential damage from insects and mice. 

Waste in the Preparation of Food 

Food values can be completely lost in cooking. For example, paring 
away from one-tenth to one-fourth of the potato results in physical 
loss. But in addition, iron and vitamin C in the potato are dissipated 
by not cooking with the jacket on. 

Most housewives still cook vegetables in too much water—and 
drain off the water and pour it down the sink. This wastes vitamins 
and minerals which seeped out of the vegetables into the water. 

Nutrition value and flavor in vegetables like cabbage and turnips 
are lost by too long cooking. 

We throw away the leaves of cauliflower, cabbage, endive, and 
chard, overlooking the nutrient value they add to stews and soups. 

Much waste occurs because the housewife fails to try recipes which 
would make some of the less popular vegetables more appetizing. 

Many housewives throw out left-overs or withhold their best efforts 
on them because they lack the knowledge of proper preparation 
methods. 

Waste at the Table 

The most obvious waste of food in the home takes place at the 
table. „ The actual cause of much of this waste lies in the planning, 
purchasing, storage, and preparation of food. But part is caused 
also by prevailing table habits. 

We resist “new” or unfamiliar foods. Uneaten portions are left 
and are wasted—and the unpopularity of the experiment acts against 
future purchases of the product. 

In wartime, when the shortage of many familiar foods increases the 

7 


importance of alternate foods, such traditional notions of what is 
good and good for us, may mean the difference between good health 
and indifferent health. 

As adults some people rebel against foods which were forced on 
them as children. 

Many of us have grown up with the notion that salad greens are 
“rabbit food,” while some housewives consider leaf lettuce, parsley, 
and water cress only as decorations for the salad. These are, in fact, 
good sources of vitamin A. 

We serve on the table more food than we can eat, because it’s 
pleasant to have more than enough. We urge on our guests more 
than they want, because we like to play the generous host and hostess. 

/An extravagant code of table manners is another cause of waste of 
food—not squeezing grape fruit for the last bit of juice, not tipping 
soup bowls for the last drop of soup, not picking up chops and chicken 
bones in our fingers, etc. There is a shortage of fats and butter, yet 
some of us seldom think of soaking up the gravy on our plates with a 
small piece of bread. Some leave a little dessert for appearance’s sake. 
Although such practices may have been justified before the war, they 
can hardly be justified now, when food is scarce at home and when 
hundreds of thousands of our civilian allies are starving. 

THE SOLUTION 

The success of the Nation’s program to reduce food waste in the 
home lies in educating people to take a number of actions. Here are 
10 basic ways of saving food in the home: 

1. Choose your foods from the Basic 7. 

2. Plan your meals by the week. 

3. Buy sea'sonals; try new foods. 

4. Store perishables with care. 

5. Prepare food without any waste. 

6. Simplify table manners—we’re at war. 

7. Pledge your family to “clean up the plate.” 

8. Save the left-overs—make them appetizing. 

9. Share or preserve your Victory Garden surplus. 

10. Help harvest the community crops. 

If these basic steps in the domestic food-conservation program are 
adopted by everyone, food will be saved, people will eat better, and 
victory will be that much closer. 

INFORMATION OBJECTIVES 

1. To Everyone 

A fact which is important to everyone in America is that there will 
not be enough food this year or for several years to satisfy all of the 


8 


claimants for it—even though farmers have broken all food-production 
records and are going to produce to the limit next year. 

When people realize that a few simple conservation measures at 
home can actually increase the food available for family consumption, 
they will gladly take necessary action. 

Hence, it is necessary to instill in everyone a deeper respect for 
food . . . the same respect which the English, the Russians, the 
Chinese, and the starving millions in the occupied countries have for 
their food. That will not be easy, for until recently, food—lots of 
food and the kind of food desired—had been available to anyone who 
had the money to pay for it. 

To alter public habits and attitudes toward food calls for drama¬ 
tizing the many ways food can be conserved. We need to enlarge 
people’s concepts of what is edible ... to encourage new ideas of 
what is palatable. This calls for changes in eating habits of many 
years’ standing. It also means persuading people to consume more 
of the food they buy . . . persuading the housewife to prepare all of 
the produce that can be made edible . . . persuading her and her 
family to eat all of each portion taken on the plate. 

2. To the Homemaker 

The key objective in the information program on food conservation 
is the homemaker. She plans meals, buys food, prepares it, serves it, 
and stores it for later use. She can do more toward conserving our 
food supply than any other individual. Alteration of her attitudes 
and practices will influence her family and the other people with 
whom she comes in contact—the grocer and the restaurant operator. 

3. To the Children 

Enlisting the aid of young people in conserving food requires a 
simple, direct, and understandable approach, coupled with suggested 
action which can be easily carried out. 

Such action is the “clean your plate” practice. It is simple. It 
appeals to children because it makes them feel they are participating 
in an important project. 

The “clean your plate” idea fits logically into the whole conser¬ 
vation program, but by itself it will do little good unless it is linked 
with conservation practices in the buying, cooking, and serving of food. 

SUGGESTED INFORMATION APPROACHES 

In developing an information program on the conservation of food 
in the home, these approaches may be helpful in suggesting ways of 
dramatizing the facts. 

What the Soldier Needs 

The Army must purchase over 5 pounds of food per day to keep a 
soldier in fighting trim. To insure the success of military operations, 


9 


reserves must be built up to guard against any possible contingency-— 
a 90-day supply at home and a 9-month supply abroad. 

What Our Allies Need 

Our allies need American food to give them the fighting edge they 
need to smash the Axis. The English can raise only two-thirds of the 
food they need. The Russians lost close to half of their best crop¬ 
land when the Ukraine was overrun; that’s the same as if we lost our 
entire food-producing area in the Middle West. 

Our total yearly waste of food is, by the most conservative estimate, 
more than twice the amount of food our allies are receiving from us 
this year! 

What the Liberated People Need 

American food shipped into countries liberated from Axis oppression 
is as surely a weapon of war as guns and tanks and ammunition. With 
American food, we can secure the cooperation of these people in 
working toward a lasting peace ... we can prevent starvation, 
pestilence, and famine. 

How the Army Saves Food 

Civilians could take valuable lessons from the Army in the careful 
prevention of food waste. Following an extensive survey conducted 
at training camps in 1942, a number of conservation measures were 
adopted and are now saving an estimated three-quarters of a pound 
of food per man each day. The Army has adopted these rules: 

1. Meals are prepared for only the number of men actually expected 
at each mess. 

2. Strict mess supervision is required to make sure food waste is 
kept at a minimum. 

3. Soldiers are asked to take only what they can eat and to eat all 
they take. 

4. Less popular foods that might be left on the plate are seldom 
served. 

Let’s not bring up the rear in this parade. The armed forces lead 
in fighting—we should lead in conserving. 

How England Saves Food 

England has a “Waste of Food Order.” It provides: 

(a) That no person shall waste food or permit it to be wasted. 

(fe) That any food fit for human consumption shall not willfully be damaged or 
thrown away or fed to animals. 

(c) That a person having control or custody of food must take reasonable 
precautions for its preservation. 

(d) That a person shall not buy food in excessive quantities, and so cause such 
food to become unfit for human consumption. 

(e) That a person engaged in the disposal of food shall dispose of it before it 
becomes unfit for human consumption. 


10 


APPENDIX 

Selected References on Food Conservation, Food Waste, and Related 
Data. 

AIDS TO CONSERVATION 

Vitamins from Farm to You. U. S. Dept. Agr. AWI-2. Washington, D. C. 
1942. 

Fight Food Waste in the Home. U. S. Dept. Agr. AWI-3. Washington, 
D. C., 1942. 

Facts on Food Waste. U. S. Dept. Agr., Food Distribution Administration. 
Mim. Washington, D. C., 1943. 

It’s Up To You. Script, film, and slides (for either the long or short version of 
play). U. S. Dept. Agr., Food Distribution Administration. Washington, 
D. C. 1943. 

(Booklets and leaflets available on request. Order by title, and by number 
when given.) 

FIVE SERIES OF POSTERS ON HOW TO PREPARE AND CONSERVE 

FOOD 

Well-adapted for use in schools, dietetics classes, and extension programs. 
Up-to-date and to-the-point in terms of nutrition, conservation, economy, and 
appetite appeal. 

Each poster fully illustrated with simple, graphic photographs and brief, 
step-by-step copy. Printed on heavy white paper. 

1. Fight Food Waste in the Home (size 14)4 by 20 inches. Printed in black 
and red on white paper. 25fi for set of 10. Titles follow). 

Join the Ranks—Fight Food Waste in the Home. 

Milk and Eggs—Nature’s Food—clean, covered, cold—will stay good! 
Meat, Poultry, Fish are full of flavor—a cold dry place is what they favor. 
Cooked Meat, Poultry, and Fish. 

Save Every Drop of Oil or Fat. 

Wilt not, waste not—Fresh Vegetables. 

Fresh Fruits are Best in Season—with care, they’ll keep within reason. 

A Cool Airy Place to Suit Hardy Vegetables and Fruit. 

To Keep Bread, Cake, Cookies Nice—protect from insects, mold, mice. 
Sugar—Flour—Cereal—Spice—Canned Foods. 

2. Get the Good From Your Food (size 14)4 by 20 inches. Black and red on 
white. 25^ per set of 10. Titles follow). 

Get the Good From Your Food. 

Get the Good From Fruit. 

Get the Good From Vegetables (3). 

Get the Good From Meat (2). 

Get the Good From Poultry. 

Get the Good From Eggs. 

Get the Good From Fats. 


11 



3. Meat Cooking Charts (size 20 by 30 inches. Black on white. 50ft for set 
of 7. Titles follow). 

Do you know meat cuts and cook according to the cut? 

Roasting a tender cut. 

Stuffing low-priced tender roasts. 

Broiling tender steaks and chops. 

Pot-roasting a less tender cut. 

Braising a less tender steak. 

Ground meat in savory ways. 

4. Poultry Cooking Charts (size 20 by 30 inches. Black on white. 50ft for 
set of 8. Titles follow). 

Cooking poultry. 

Broiling a young bird. 

To fry chicken. 

Stuffing and trussing. 

Roasting young turkey. 

Roasting young duck. 

Braising a fowl. 

Stewing a fowl. 

5. Home Canning Charts (size 14% by 20 inches. Green and orange on white. 
50ft for set of 20). 

(How to order poster sets: Send order to the Superintendent of Documents, 
Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. Each set of charts is com¬ 
plete in itself. Each set is sold as a complete set only. Cash, money order, or 
certified check must accompany the order.) 

Conserving the food you buy 

Excerpts from conservation suggestions prepared by the War Food Adminis¬ 
tration follow: 

I. Suggestions for conserving the nutritive value of food to be used in 
fresh stage (cooked or raw). The following suggestions are taken from Vita¬ 
mins From Farm to You, U. S. Department of Agriculture: 

(1) Don’t crush or bruise. 

(2) Don’t soak. 

(3) Keep cool until ready to cook or eat. 

(4) Use quickly when prepared. 

(5) Make raw salad or slaw as a last-minute job. Vitamin C gets away 

faster from foods peeled or cut. 

(6) When you cook vegetables, use as little water as possible. Add salt to 

cooking water at the start, to help hold the vitamin C. 

(7) Cook quickly whenever you can. Put vegetables into boiling water, 

and bring the water back to boiling point fast. 

(8) Cook vegetables until just tender—but no longer. 

(9) Stir vegetables only when you must. If you stir you mix air into the 

food and that destroys some of the vitamins. 

(10) Do not add soda when you cook vegetables. The soda destroys 

thiamine and vitamin C. 

(11) Do not thaw frozen vegetables before you cook them. 

(12) Serve raw frozen foods, such as fruits, at once, immediately after thaw¬ 

ing. 

(13) Since cooking water takes up some of the vitamins and also minerals, it 

is good food; so don’t pour cooking water down the sink. Serve it 
with the vegetables—or in soups—sauces—gravies. 

II. Suggestions for conserving the quantity and quality of food through 
adequate storage and methods of preparation (from Fight Food Waste in 


12 


the Home, U. S. Department of Agriculture): Keep meat and poultry in the 
coldest part of the ice box or your coldest storage place—45° F. or lower is best. 

Fresh meat. —Cover fresh meat loosely. Wipe with damp cloth just before 
cooking. If ground, store in extra cool place and cook soon. 

Meat broth. —Cool meat broth rapidly, keep cold, use soon. 

Cooked meat. —Keep cooked meat covered. Chopped and sliced cooked 
meats spoil more quickly than meat in the piece. Cut or chop just before using. 
Keep meat sandwiches and salads cold right up to serving time. 

Cured meat. —Keep uncooked, well-cured meat in a dark, cool, dry, airy 
place. Leave wrapping on ham, bacon, and other cured meat until ready to 

cook. Keep mildly cured meats like fi%sh meats. 

Poultry. —Wash poultry thoroughly inside and out, pat dry, and store very 
cold until time to cook. 

Sea food. —Fish and all other sea food spoils in a few hours at room tempera¬ 
ture. Cook at once, or wrap in wax paper to keep odor from other food, and 
store very cold. 

Milk. —Don’t let milk stand out. Keep it in the colder part of the refrigerator. 
When cooking, take out only milk and cream needed and let the rest stay cold. 
Don’t pour left-over milk back in the main supply. Put away milk the first 
thing after each meal. Keep odorous foods—fish, onion, cabbage, melons—away 
from milk. Use suds and sun on all milk containers. Scald often. 

Milk and egg dishes. —Milk and eggs are good combinations, but spoil easily. 
If custards, cream pies and puddings, and cream puffs are not to be eaten at once, 
cool them quickly, cover, and keep very cold. 

Cheese. —Cold and covered, are the watchwords for cheese too. Use cottage 
and other soft cheese quickly, for they soon spoil. Hard, cured cheese, well 
wrapped, may be kept longer. 

Eggs. —Wipe off soiled spots on eggs with a dry, rough cloth. But don’t wash 
eggs before storing. Water destroys the protective film that keeps out air and 
odors. Store eggs in open bowl or wire basket in a cool place. 

Vegetables. —The fresher a vegetable when it is used, the better the taste, 
the less the waste, and the more vitamins retained. 

“Wilt not, waste not,” is a golden rule for garden stuff. For household storage 
of fresh vegetables, use refrigerator or other cold place. 

Salad greens. —To crisp up lettuce, radishes, celery—all raw vegetables headed 
for the salad bowl—wash, drain, store in covered vegetable pan. Keep cold. 

Cooking greens. —Pile cooking greens loosely to prevent bruising. Store in 
covered vegetable pan, or waterproof bag, preferably after washing and draining. 
Keep them cold. 

Snap beans, lima beans, peas, corn. —To hold the sweet in corn, peas, and 
lima beans and to keep snap beans fresh, keep them cold. Let them stay in the 
pod or husk unless you can store them tightly covered in refrigerator. 

The cabbage family. —Cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and broccoli lose fresh¬ 
ness faster than cabbage. Leave them uncut; keep cold and not too dry. 

Root vegetables. —Put beets, turnips, rutabagas, carrots in a cool ventilated 
place. Cut tops to 2 inches to save space. (Don’t throw away edible turnip and 
beet tops. Save as shown under “salad greens” above—or can, dry, brine, or 
freeze them.) 

Potatoes, onions. —A dry, cool blackout suits them both, but avoid freezing. 

Sweetpotatoes, squash. —For sweetpotatoes and squash, dry cool storage. 

Berries, cherries, grapes. —To keep berries, cherries, and grapes tip top, 
store in a shallow tray in a cold place. Wash just before using. 

Peaches, pears, plums. —Spread to keep from bruising. Keep the ripe fruit 

cool. Let under-ripe fruits ripen at room temperature. 


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

Oranges, lemons. —Spread out ta prevent loss from mol 
a cool place. 

Apples. —Apples soften as much in 1 day at 70° F. as in 1 
keep them at the cooler temperature. 

Be gentle with the firm apple and orange as well as with the soft berry and the 
tender-skinned peach. 

To pinch and bruise and break the skin will let the enemy, rot, come in. 

Bananas. —Bananas are best when kept at warmer temperatures than our 
native fruits. Let underripe bananas ripen at room temperature. 

Dried fruits. —The natural sugar in dried fruits keeps them from molding 
easily. 

Store them in a tight bag or jar in a cool place. Watch in warm weather for 
worms or weevils. 

Spoilage spreads as mold breeds mold, weevils breed weevils. This happens 
oftenest in the forgotten can or box. Frequent check-ups save food. 

Bread. —Cool home-baked bread before storing in ventilated box. In hot 
weather, to keep bread from molding, wrap in moistureproof paper and put in 
refrigerator. 

Cake. —Cool on rack before storing in its own covered box, ventilated if in 
humid climate. 

Cookies. —Crisp cookies and crackers soften if kept with bread and cake. 

Keep them in airtight tins or boxes all their own. 

Flour, cereal, sugar, spice. —Don’t try to store much flour and cereal over 
the hot months—buy less and oftener. Store such dry foods as flour, cereal, 
sugar, spices in tight containers to keep out dust, moisture, insects, and mice. 

Dried vegetables. —Mice and weevils are fond of dried vegetables, too. Keep 
dried vegetables in tight containers. 

Canned goods. —Tinned foods should be kept dry to prevent rust and spoilage. 

Foods canned in glass should be stored in a cool dark place. 

Quick-frozen foods. —Quick-frozen foods must be kept frozen solidly in the 
freezing compartment of a mechanical refrigerator until used. Don’t hold too 
long even at freezing. Once thawed, frozen foods spoil rapidly. Do not refreeze. 

Waste no fats. Store butter and other table fats in tightly covered dish in a 
cold dark place away from strong odors. To keep cooking fats well, strain fat 
drippings to remove food particles and store in clean covered jars in a cool, dark, 
dry place until used. 

Don’t drain away vegetable juices. Save them for soups and sauces. 

Save fruit juices for cold drinks. 

Save bread and cracker crumbs for poultry stuffing or to make a crumb blanket 
for scalloped dishes. 

Use perishable foods promptly. 

STOP EVERY SMALL LOSS OF GOOD FOOD. SAVE EVERY DROP 
AND CRUMB. 


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U S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1943 




